Gore Wanderers and Queens Park kept pace with Thistle FC on Saturday, overcoming Waihopai and Old Boys AFC respectively in the Southland Express Donald Gray premiership on Saturday.
Egbert Koning and Ashton Wadsworth both grabbed braces as Laser Plumbing Gore Wanderers comfortably beat Kowhai Roofing Waihopai 6-1 at Hyde Park.
Carl Henderson grabbed a consolation goal for Waihopai in what was a frenetic opening 45, where all seven goals effectively ended the game by the break.
At the ILT turf, it was not such a one-sided affair as Southern Steel Windows Old Boys AFC lost to Level One Queens Park 3-2 in a tightly contested game from the first kick to the final whistle.
Old Boys started the stronger with Sam Christie opening the scoring on the six-minute mark, but Park quickly got up to pace and equalised seven minutes later through Callum Gargiulo.
Old Boys kept the pressure up and went ahead again with Zach Tull scoring a goal of the season effort, firing a fantastic volley from a cross ball into the far corner that even had the Park bench and supporters applauding. I’m not sure a better goal has been scored at the ILT Turf in its 14-year history.
Park were not to be beaten though and equalised again 15 minutes later through Ben Patterson to go into the break at two goals apiece.
The second half continued much like the first, but it was Park, again through Ben Patterson, who grabbed the crucial third on the 69-minute mark to put the pressure on Old Boys.
Heading into the final 15 minutes, a few Park changes gave Old Boys some problems upfront with Park nearly grabbing a fourth, but Old Boys pushed Park to the end. It was Park’s day, grabbing a crucial three points in a fixture that could have gone either way in what was an entertaining 90 minutes of football.
In the Kolk Cup, Māruawai Midwives Gore Wanderers sailed to the top of the table with an eye-watering 19-nil win over Malloch McClean Waihopai Woman. Wyndham Town beat Winton FC 6-0 in the other recorded fixture.
In the SPL, Editors Cut Queens Park earned a well-fought point on the road, holding Dunedin City Royals FC to a 1-1 stalemate at Sports Turf in Dunedin.
Royals went ahead through Lucas Townend just before halftime to go into the break 1-0 up.
Townend went from hero to zero four minutes into the second half as he saw red in an off-the ball incident, kicking out at a Park player, which saw the goal scorer take an early bath. Park took full advantage and equalised through centre back Rodrigo Schmidt De Camargo, who powerfully headed home the equaliser from an Anton Fitzgerald corner to take a valuable point on the road.
The draw sees the Invercargill men hold on to third spot in the league table after four games, a huge contrast to previous seasons where Park were slow to start before coming alive in the second half of the season, a change that will delight coach Paddy Murphy.
"Happy with a point on the road, it may prove decisive at the end of the season. We’re getting towards where we want to be and improving week on week," Murphy said.
Old Boys’ Fletcher Cup team beat Northern 2-1 to maintain its good start to the season and jump to second in the league.
Old Boys under-15s start their campaign this weekend away to Roslyn while Queens Park U15s meet Timaru United in Dunedin.
In the Donald Gray competition, Thistle and Gore play in a Friday night game at the ILT Turf, kicking off at 6.30pm, while Waihopai entertain Park on Saturday at Surrey Park, kickoff 12.30pm.
The SPL visits Invercargill again as Park take on Green Island and the Park woman resume their South Island qualifying campaign, also against Green Island, at 12.30pm at the ILT Turf.
- By Chris Montgomery
